Symptom of the Universe
by ItachiSLucius
Summary: In a world ruled with Tenshi, Akuma, and the mixed breeds, Naruto is the abomination that no one can figure out, not even he himself understands it fully. When his father is switched to a new school in the district, he got what he never knew he needed: Closure and more unexpectedly; love. (MadaNaru, One-sided SasuNaru NOT SASUKE BASHING) Future Mpreg
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **IMPORTANT NOTICE ON UPDATING: I will not update this frequently, this will only be updated once I complete the full story. This is simply the Prologue.**

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At the start of the next century, in the beginning of the tenth month, a crying child was born. Born with the reddened tender skin that all babies have in birth, a tiny amount of hair on it's little head, it's small hands held in fists. It's eyes were closed, but in time, they would open and the most beautiful shade of blue would bloom and tempt many a person in their beauty. It was clear, even in a cave hidden from both Heaven and Hell this child showed great promise.

This child born from a woman of great spirit -as he would come to have- and whose heart was large but was now darkened by sadness. For this woman, with hair the very shade of molten rock, knew that she would not survive to see her child grow and change before her. She knew this, and yet she did not weep, instead she smiled in a manner that one can only do on the brink of death, and brought her child closer to her breast. Whispering in a weakened, yet spirited voice she told the baby her last parting words.

"My child. Do not forget or forsake me; for what I have done was out of love, and in time I hope you can know my reasons behind it as you love in return. Grow strong in all you do, work for yourself, and do not bend to another's desire. Be who you know you truly are, whoever that may be. Love and love in return as I have. Find someone who you care for, and never let them go. Goodbye, my child, I'm sorry I won't be there for you as you grow." Her lungs forsaken her at that point, yet at least her eyes were closed in peace.

The baby's wails grew in volume, perhaps it sensed it's mother's passing, who's' to know?

Although it seemed they were to good fortune for the new life, for as they pitched into splitting screams. A young passerby heard the commotion and was drawn to the crying, fearful that it was a child in need of aid.

This man was a young university student, on his third year into becoming a teacher, at only twenty years of age, he was considered equally by his pers as both a foolish boy as well as an ambitious man. Yet even those that doubted him considered him a kind and gentle person. It was by pure happenstance he was out here anyway, as it was he was actually doing a favor for his friend who had lost a precious item of his in the woods.

So the man mindful of the brambles and thorns at the entrance to the cave entered with cautious a mind. Wondering to the Heavens as to why anyone would leave a baby in a cave. His footsteps became hurried, even as his mind was weary.

There he stumbled across a scene that held beauty and tragedy in equal measure. A pale woman with blood, and what looked to be afterbirth underneath her crossed over legs -he quickly looked away to give some semblance of respect to the corpse and focused instead on the child crying loudly clutched tightly to the woman's chest. The baby was wrapped in a ripped up piece of the woman's green dress. Carefully, he approached the child and gently tried to pacify his hysterics, cooing softly and clutching the newborn tightly.

The poor man was in a panicked state, he was quite apt around children, yet babies were not in his expertise, and the poor child wasn't calming as he had hoped. He bit his lip as he thought of just what his next action should be.

He ached to help the woman, pay her some respect at the very least for the child he was holding, if not for his own piece of mind. Yet the circumstances being what they were it was clear what his priority was in this situation. The newborn would need help, help that in most likely cases he could not give. He had to go to a hospital, so many questions would arise, this he knew.

He had an incurable fear of confrontation.

Now, however, he could not simply ignore the situation. He looked down to where the woman lay, eyes closed, and mouth open. He bowed as deeply as he dared with the child in his arms and whispered in a hoarse pity filled voice, a gentle apology.

He almost left the cave then but thought better of it. The warm scarf on his neck was made of wool and woven tightly, soft and made without harmful chemicals, they would help protect the newborn from the crisp wind October brought. The bright red scarf was wrapped around the child overtop the scrap of green dress, and tucked over it's ears.

Thus the baby stopped crying.

At this juncture, however, while exiting the cave. It was clear to the young man, that he had not heads or tails as to what he would do at this point. His car was parked on the shoulder of the highway, not too far to walk even with his new companion. Unfortunately, he had no ways of driving, the child in his arms could not ride without support, and he had nothing suitable in his car to provide that.

He knew he had roughly 2,000 yen on his person, so he could pay taxi fare to the nearest hospital in Chigasaki, nevertheless even if he managed that, he would still have to get to his apartment in Yokohama which would cost more than he had. Although he did know someone who lived just outside of the town who may give him a lift.

Regardless, he had little choice and this seemed to be the best course of action. The only thing to hope for was whether or not his flip phone decided to work. Sometimes he found he had trouble with the thing, it was still so very austere to him, even with his young age. Quickly he grasped his phone in his pocket and dialed -this was made difficult by doing so with his nondominant hand-

"Hello? A taxi Mt. Tanzawa to Chigasaki Hospital. Thank you, name? Umino." When he spoke his accident was mixed, and his speech patterns were strange, it was clear that he was not Japanese. Luckily he was fluent enough to get his main point across most of the time. It was of no help that he was trying to keep his voice down as to not rouse the sleeping newborn in his arms.

Said child was now at peace, and blissfully unaware of his surroundings, his tiny head so small against the twenty year-old's arm. It was rather adorable to the young man, and he smiled while walking, though the image of the child's poor mother lying dead in that cave haunted his mind. It was a memory he'd like to purge from his mind forever more.

Still, the man on the other end of the line had given him something to think about. He didn't know the baby's name, and while perhaps not wise he couldn't deny his desire to name the child himself. It was strange, and maybe even selfish but he felt the strong urge to relate their names to each other. He spent no time to contemplate on whether or not that was wrong.

In the cab the name came at him swiftly, not unlike a kind summer breeze it didn't force itself in front of his eyes, it was more like a suggestion from a friend over tea. Simple, nevertheless nice and welcomed. The name's meaning was simple enough; maelstrom. Even as the thought of the name crossed his mind there was a distinctive feeling that it would suit the child perfectly in whatever path it ventured in. Perhaps a great stir would be caused, or perhaps those around him would be rocked backwards and forwards with intense emotion in the years to come, to the young uni student the name was simply perfection for the new life.

In front of him, he saw the cabbie incline his head towards the backseat where he sat, a pleasant smile on his face.

"Is the little one yours?" He spoke in Japanese, though the man understood every word, he had no idea how to respond to such a heavy question. Yet on his young light brown face, a small smile broke out from his serious cast eyes.

"Yes."

"What's the name?"

"Naruto. Umino Naruto." A child just like any other, lain with great potential.

The car was filled with a warm laughter from the driver, not in mocking, simply irony, and good nature.

"Whirlpool huh?" (2)

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 **1:** The name is taken from a Black Sabbath song of the same name, I thought it fit well enough. Although most of the inspiration for this fic actually comes mostly from Metallica songs, throughout the fic you will probably see them brought up in subplots either in a hidden meaning/dialogue/paragraphs directly correlating to the lyrics of songs by Metallica. (As a side note it may include _No Leaf Clover_ Which was written specifically for S&M or the _**Metallica and San Francisco Symphony collaborate**_ _)_

 **2 :** For Naruto, I decided to use the other meaning of his name as it fit the story better: **Meaning: A Maelstrom i.e a whirlpool of extreme violence.** **Umino: Meaning: A pool of…** ) essentially Naruto's name as a whole just means _whirlpool_ or if you want to get clinical it means _Whirlpool Pool._


	2. Chapter 1: The Pieces Fit Together

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

 **Note: I decided to screw it, I wanted to post this because Era's is going slowly, and everyone needs some MadaNaru in their lives, so no it isn't yet finished, but here's the first Chapter anyway. Please tell me what you think, I realize its rather childish of me to ask you to review and if you don't that's fine, but despite that, this book is a lot different from others I've written mainly in its language so do tell, thank you, and enjoy.**

 **Btw things jump around from perspective to perspective in the beginning of this chapter, so just a heads up.**

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"How is it that your people managed to create something so pathetic as this?" There was merely silence for the longest of moments, long enough for the man who had spoken to fire his pistol and end another man's life without consideration of the dead man's family or friends. It wasn't that he was cruel, as it was he knew the man's end, and it lay not here. This man cast his eyes downward at the corpse, his expression didn't change as he moved to where his companion waited, posture patient and calm, with an angered expression of disgust his dark brown eyes narrowing in question.

The two of them remained eyes intent and challenging, until the one in the car averted his gaze with a sigh and a tear forming under an eyelid. Neither of them paid it any attention, yet as it was the man who had killed not mere moments ago got into the jeep, his hand hovered over the key, though he didn't move it farther then that as he looked at his companion, the rush of the fierce winds was the only sound to be heard for miles on end.

Finally the other spoke, his voice strong and cracked speaking as if to an enemy who had done a horrendous act. "The aim was for change."

"From peace to war?"

"No, of course not, you know that isn't how we work."

"Yet, that is what you have done." They locked gazes once more, the near blinding light from the ever present sun bearing down on them and obstructing their vision of each other, the jeep provided no protection, and the metal of the car only brought discomfort.

"That wasn't our intention." They were at a crossroads, one they had been at numerous times, yet the argument never ceased, and the cycle continued. Both of them were firm on their beliefs and that would not change, for they both knew each of them held truth, the fact of the matter was, regardless of truth they had no desire to admit the other one had some sort of just response.

"Your hair is hideous." The other man blinked, the sudden change of topic was unusual, especially for this man, yet nevertheless welcome, and he smiled brightly in return watching as his comrade started the vehicle up so that they may once again move to the next target location.

"You call that bird's nest on your head hair?" Though his companion didn't spare so much as a glance at him as he drove, he heard the light almost non-existent chuckle that came from the other, even as his expression was hardened in concentration. The driver turned to his companion, whose previously neatly tied hair was in disarray and flying about in the wind as they drove long sweeping waves of brown blown into the air and becoming even more of a tangled mess than before, though his eyes were once again soft, a calm settling over him as it always had.

"Hashirama, I hear there was high trouble on your end." The man beside him looked over sharply, his hair sweeping into his face briefly. Although his shock was short lived, resignation filtered instead onto his grime covered face, his posture however stiffened. An eyebrow raised in alarm at the rare sight.

"Ah, I actually don't know much, it's kept under lock and key. No one down on middle ground knows anything."

"Secrets? I thought such things were blasphemy in your culture." The man regarded as Hashirama scoffed loudly, although the other man, didn't hear it over the roar of the wind, engine, and rubble bouncing off the side of the vehicle.

"More discouraged then anything like your suggesting. Still I don't really care, they can keep their secrets, what about you? Hear anything interesting?" The other man gave a non-communicable 'hmm' which could mean anything in this instance. Hashirama didn't bother to pry, understanding the strict rules the other man had to uphold in his -very- particular society. That, decision he acknowledged, was the end of their conversation. He only regarded for a moment how controlled the conversation had been compared to how volatile their discussions usually became. Before he let it slip his mind.

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Crimson, it gave off a bitter- gentle smell, it was nothing special really, but the young boy was clutching the flower tightly, his eyes closed as the scenery passed quickly. The car trip was a long one, and long ago he had exhausted his mind and body trying to redirect their course to his hometown.

His father however, hadn't changed his mind, so there they were; driving down a clustered highway to reach the large city of Konoha where they would live from now on. The man who drove -the boy's father-, a kind man with light brown skin, and dark brown eyes and hair, he was someone you would usually see harboring a kind smile or a tensed pained expression that came from stress and over-thinking. He had been the one to impose this trip upon the two of them, though not entirely out of his own merit. His work had made him switch to a different school in the district, and his employers had presented him with little choice in the matter. Hence their position on the open road now.

His son had not been fond of what his new job entitled. Most prominent was the fact that his new job required them to move into Tokyo, which had caused quite a fight between him and his son, the younger of the two ended up spouting some rather profine profanity at the company and their bottom line, which had lead to some hidden giggling, and not so hidden glares from the elder of the two. It wasn't unknown that the both of them hated the board of administrators. Yet there was little to be done about it both of them had eventually accepted, still acceptance or not had not necessarily placated the upset teenager, his poor father suffered through three hours of non-stop ranting and yelling. That was to say, his son was very loud, in both voice and expression.

His son was a very expressive individual period, consistently wearing bright yellows, oranges', pinks', greens', and very occasionally luminescent jackets and vests. Many disapproving stares were scent his way in their own village. His bright sunbeam yellow blond hair didn't help his fashion sense any.

The teacher was concerned with far larger matters then the strange fashion today's teens wore. He was worried about the teenager's yes, but it was of discrimination that he worried for, Naruto didn't care about most his age, yet it was obvious to his father that he was less than fond of the spiteful snickers and isolation associated with them. It was one thing that his blond son was a man of his own design, it was quite another with his blood involved. Iruka -as was his name- could only hope that the information would remain unchecked, and undiscovered by the community.

In the back of the car, he saw his son shift, the crimson Chrysanthemum in his grip almost falling carelessly onto the dirty floor of their old Ford Escort. It seems however that even with mind not present the Chrysanthemum was far too precious to the youth to lose it, as it was simply clutched closer to his orange clad chest. It was lost to his father just why said flower was so important, but sometimes your children hold secrets, and Iruka felt no need to pry into his son's privy life.

Next to his teen's sleeping form rested two moving boxes filled with certificates and documentation for said teen, a necessity unfortunately. It was far more than the average parent had to carry, and sometimes Iruka felt the heavy task of raising his child alone at such a young age was a foolish one. He only cast one more glance before he focused once more on the road.

The worried air he carried didn't dissipate even as he tried to focus on less serious matters.

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The air was warm with the new breath of spring, greenery lush and blooming with gorgeous colours against the dull grey of the sidewalk, the road lines were repainted as their vibrant colours shone anew, and cars of all shapes and sizes traveled along the road sport or muscle cars seeming to dominate the early morning roads as opposed to more spacious modern vehicles. The teen took in a deep breath of air at the calm of the area, his clothing almost as vibrant as the luminescent yellow lines of the road, his hair at this early time appeared as a bright orange with the early sky shining on it. His strange styling choices stood as contrast to his hair, in a way that left no room for compliments.

Currently he had on a some of bright yellow trousers, paired with a neon green t-shirt and bright -unfastened- orange waistcoat, overtop of that was his favorite jacket, a bright orange construction jacket with luminescent silver. Despite his rather lacking sense of fashion he was quite an attractive individual with a pair of azure and cobalt eyes that stood out regardless of his loud clothing. With a sepia skin tone and bright butterscotch blond hair that stuck up like static electricity had been run through it. The only thing remotely dark about him was the dark lines on his cheeks which looked to be scars painted over with black liner, when in fact they were quite natural. The boy would stutter and shyly reply that they were a part of his heritage when asked, though his insecurity would keep him from elaborating further.

It was because of these scars that he lingered in his steps, determined to procrastinate as long as he could in order to avoid the strange glances of the people he wanted to impress. Currently he was making his way -very slowly- to a small cafe that had caught his interest with a 'help wanted' advertising in the newspaper for those sixteen and older, as a barista, it appealed for many reasons, money especially, that, and he knew this would give him something to settle himself in the new environment that was the one of the largest cities of Tokyo.

He had grown up further away, in Kanagawa -Yokohama to be exact- so the feeling was rather cereal, Kanagawa was large, but not quite as large as Tokyo was not to mention; Konoha boasted a bit more colour than his former home. If he hadn't had nervousness clouding his eyes, he may have looked around and stared in wonder a little more.

The scent of trash and dinner both reached his nose. Unsure of what to do with the contrasting scents, he simply scrunched his nose up and walked a little faster.

Many women, men, and other were crowding the streets even with the hour. Most probably running or shuffling to their jobs, others in cosplay dashing excitedly to a convention of some sort, there was also people just staring at the sky from the finely polished benches of the bus stations eyes glazed and expressions melancholy. In a strange way it tickled his sensitive side, a quiver of sympathy rising; of course he soothed this quiver into a small whisper of feeling once it registered, there was no sense in feeling any sympathy when there was nothing that he could do for the guiltless people.

They all wished for the same thing after all.

Naruto knew, he was a bit different. He knew, he acknowledged, and sometimes in the silence of his room in the midnight hour he would despise it. Yet him hating himself in the dark hours would not change him, nor did he want it to. Everything was so set in the world that sometimes it sickened him, people were so very tied to their stiff set ways they considered nothing else as acceptable or approachable. So fair, the only two he knew thought the same as he over such things were his best-friend: a harsh dry voiced Canadian by the name of Gaara who was prone to violence when someone questioned his sense of society -as he simply didn't care for it- and was quite dry in his presentation of self. And his father; who didn't quite think the same as he and Gaara so much as he was simply too kind to shame anyone for their own lifely choices.

There was no other way to say it, Naruto hated society's rules. Often times it got him in a great deal of trouble with teachers, adults, and the elderly alike, often being called a delinquent or a troublemaker, not that he really cared at this point.

Gaara, unfortunately, still lived in Yokohama so everything would be lonely for a while, but the bright blond knew he would be able to call the harsh man if he needed someone to talk to other than his father, Gaara was intimidating yes, but he had a good spirit and a kind soul deep down. A little buried from his life experiences, but there nonetheless. Gaara of anyone knew him most, and his confrontations with life's tribulations made him excellent at giving advice.

If the crimson haired man had been here now, Naruto wouldn't have been feeling quite so on edge. There was a daunting prospect to getting a job, and he didn't know if he was quite ready for it. Although ready or not he had no choice, his father was going to be struggling for awhile with their move, money wise, and he wanted to do what he could to help.

The cafe he had in mind was nothing special really, it had little to no reviews online, and as far as he understood it was small and on the outskirts of the main city. Perhaps not the best place to start your career at, but Naruto was hopeful that it would only be a temporary gig, he had many a dream, and none of them involved being a barista for the rest of his days.

Getting closer to his destination now, the midday wind blew harshly at his exposed fingers and he shivered, wrapping his luminescent coat closer around himself. He was under no illusion, he knew that if Gaara was with him now the man would be raspily chuckling -chuckle being an especially strong word to describe what Gaara did with his throat, it was more of a snort-sneering-mildly-amused grunt- with a mirthful tilt in his teal eyes, of course he would be sporting cargo shorts and a t-shirt, maybe a polyester vest. The Canadian always made fun of him when the complaint of the cold left his lips, which was rather fair to be honest.

The more he thought of his friend the faster he walked, which was amusing considering how they had met, but it achieved its higher goal, it got him to the cafe far faster. 'It seems even the thought of Gaara gets people running.' Naruto mused to himself as he opened the glass door, snickering at his own mental joke. If anyone proved the Canadian stereotypes wrong it was Gaara -which was a very mild way of saying he bit them completely in the ass until their hair turned red and their penis faded to white and fell off.- Gaara was very much an exception, who would be very much kicking his stupid tanned friend for losing himself in thought.

Naruto cursed at himself briefly, his thoughts would drift he knew that well enough. Doing a quick look around he was glad to see that no one seemed to be there, and took the time to get a gander at his new surroundings.

Almost everything was a clean pearlescent white, with the sharp contrasting lines of the black decatory metal trees stationed seemingly randomly around the small place. There was six tables all spaced out evenly with white plastic chairs to each table. To make up for lack of room in diner space there was a large bar at the end of the cafe, the heavy countertop looked marble, and there were several comfortable looking stools placed at the counter for customers. Just behind the counter was the equipment that one found in cafe's and Naruto felt nervous just looking at its pristine condition.

He would stand out in this rather clean-cut place, he would have to get some 1950's like pompous clothing -something he shuddered at the thought of- or he would be outlandish. Hopefully, his employers -if he even got the job- would just provide a uniform for him to wear, he didn't have much money on him at the moment.

Rather uselessly he took off his jacket and draped it over his arm, 'at least I have a waist coat on, maybe orange is in this year.' he commented to himself, groaning at his stupidity for not having listened to his father about his clothing choices over breakfast. Now he was trying his damndest not to look like a college student on crack who had decided construction work was the right career choice. He groaned once more, and stared at the ceiling for a moment running a hand over his face in frustration. He was in the midst of trying to do something about his fuzzy hair when he heard the soft click of a door opening.

Around the corner of the counter came a woman, one who looked very irate, and Naruto did not want to try speaking to her when she donned that expression, if she was the interviewer then he was screwed. Especially given her far more professional appearance.

She had very dark grease colored black hair that was waved very slightly from what he could see, and like his -a little fuzzy, it was tied in a slightly messy bun at the nape of her slender neck, sticking up slightly in places and her bangs were no longer neatly held in place by the pulled back hair. Her skin was fair, her cheeks dusted over with a rose blush and her lips painted in a glossy rouge, her eyes were clear of any makeup and it made their apple red gaze all the more intense. She wore a very simple slim cut candy apple dress that fit her frame perfectly, and hugged her thighs all the way down until it stopped just above her knees.

From what he could see of her, she wore no jewelry, save for a simple gold band on her left hand, most likely a wedding ring, and the only accessory carried was a small bright red handbag with a rectangular silver clutch. On her feet she had on simple ash coloured pumps, and what looked to be skin coloured stockings on her legs.

Overall, she looked like an important secretary that Naruto would never want to piss off. Her heels clicked sharply on the white tiled floor, the only thing filling the silence. He didn't even think the irate woman had noticed him yet. Though as soon as he thought it, her gaze snapped from the plain flooring to his eyes, and immediately he felt like shrinking back from the powerful look she held.

She had noticed his shoes and bright yellow pants it seemed. 'Not surprising,' he reflected to himself.

"And who exactly are you?" She seemed to have bitten that question out of a particularly foul tasting fish, and Naruto really didn't want to speak with her. Not that it seemed to matter; as his fluent Japanese up and vanished on him in his time of need, and he now was having trouble remembering even a word of his second language.

He ended up staring wide-eyed at her for several moments not a sound escaping him, even his breathing was impaired, simply he couldn't breath for an entire minute before he finally managed to gather up some of his wits and strangled up a coherent sentence.

"I, well, I'm here for the job?" He didn't mean for it to come out as a question, he had some more respect for himself then that, but as long as it was what came out of his mouth, well he wouldn't question the logistics of it. He could barely speak at the moment as it was. Still the rigid women's all powering gaze never left his scared cobalt and azure eyes, That was until the loud sound of the door once again opening was heard, this time from the front, bringing with it a cold chill of air.

Desperate to separate himself from the woman's gaze he turned to the person who had been his savior, and was met with warm cerulean eyes nearly hidden by long light blonde eyelashes.

"Hello, are you here for the job then?" The question came out slowly, fair slower than common Japanese was spoken, and for a moment Naruto just blinked at her, wondering if she had only moved to Japan recently, that is, before he remembered it was quite rude to stare. Composing himself even as his cheeks tinted rose, he smiled brightly at the girl, hoping that she had not taken his moment of thought as incomprehension.

"Yeah! That would be me, nice to meet ya!" She seemed to take a liking to his personality and smiled kindly at him before her eyes shifted to just behind him at the woman who could scare a grim reaper, her expression unreadable for a moment before she sent a coy simile his way and made her way to the counter, putting on it a large fern green bag. Her hand resting she began undoing the large umber buttons on her large tawny coloured coat. Her hair was very pretty, and looked so tamable that Naruto gazed at it with envy. It was a platinum blonde (3) extremely long or at least it would be if it wasn't neatly done into a high indigo coloured ponytail.

"Naruto right?" She asked, her coat finally unbuttoned and placed on a coat hanger just to the left of her, the fake leopard fur collar so large it hid two of the other hooks from view.

"That's right." He nodded quickly. She turned to him, her eyes evaluating him from toe to head. She clicked her tongue.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka, nice to meet you Naruto-kun." She smiled briefly, and Naruto took his turn to look her over, He could acknowledge that she was far better at dressing then he.

She wore a smart-looking tailored eggplant coloured blouse, the two golden buttons undone, showing her subtle V-neck shirt which only showed a very small part of her cleavage, it seemed to be made of some light airy material as it shifted at her every movement almost flowing, quite like water. The shirt had a large but discrete -almost wispy fake white gemstone pattern of a flower on the bottom right hand corner. The shirt was made to be small, only covering her breast and a little of her stomach and it hung loosely just above her abdomen which was bare showing pale peach caucasian skin. The belt she had on was the colour of unfinished leather with a simple golden clasp. Her trousers were ink black skinny's that held her legs, but the material was designed to be loose so the fabric looked bundled in places, they cut off neatly at her ankles were on her feet she wore tortilla brown two-inch heels. Her hands were bare except for her french painted nails,she had on no earrings, however, she did wear a silver and sapphire evil-eye pendent on her neck, accenting her collarbone. She had on very simple makeup, only ice-pink lipstick with nothing decorating her eyes or checks.

Fishing through her fern bag, the platinum blonde spoke in a clipped professional tone."Kurenai-san, if you will wait in the diner, I'm sure Kakashi-san will be in shortly." There was a small sigh from behind him before the heels the woman wore clicked on the floor and a chair noisily being pulled out was heard. It wasn't something he cared to glance at, although, obviously, he was not -was very- intimidated by the -scary- red-eyed woman.

Ino gave him a small smile and motioned for him to sit down at the clean white table beside them, she took the side opposite to him. The darker haired blond glanced at the reflective clean tabletop and twitched. Nonetheless, he took the seat and gave her a grin in return.

"So Naruto-kun, I've looked at your credentials, and everything seems to be in order. Minor criminal infractions, ten reported cases of vandalism, and mild public intoxication at the age of twelve, nothing serious. Age seventeen, no major allergies, past problems with anxiety and anxiety attacks, again, nothing that we can't look over. As for the rest, you know how it goes I'm sure, The fact is: you're hired." He closed his eyes so tightly at that moment that he could feel his long lashes on his cheekbones, it was such a relief, he had expected a full blown interview, his Dad and him had even done mock-debates to get him ready for such a thing. It was good to know that even appreciated, the lessons weren't actually needed.

"So, Ino-san, where are you from then?" She gave him a wide eyes stare for a moment. It was not long however before she sighed loudly and smiled almost nervously almost because Naruto couldn't believe a woman like her could be nervous.

"Ah, no, my family moved here from America -the United States, just a year ago." Giddy he nearly bounded in his seat happily engaging into the conversation, and smiling brightly at the woman.

"Ah! My Dads English! British- I mean! My first language is English! Good to know I'm not out of my depth here! Don't get me wrong, I speak fluent Japanese! But it's just not the same, believe it!" Just like that the conversation reverted quickly from Japanese to English, not that it mattered to either of them. It also began to feature some very bad references to Kim Kardashian's ass, with Ino avidly explaining how it was surgically done, and the other blonde focusing on her marriage with a bit of a critical eye. Ino gave him a sly grin, and a under look as she regarded him for the second time that day.

"While I despise the woman, she does have a good sense of fashion. That's 'f-a-s-h-i-o-n' Naruto, ever heard of it?" The glare she received was one that blended the two already blended colours of his irises and made them one in irritation. Her reaction was only a raised eyebrow and an -admittedly- pitying smile. Something he attempted to ignore, unfortunately the smile he was hiding couldn't be not be contained and it burst forth with flashing white teeth and rose cheeks.

"Well if it bugs you so much maybe you can take me shopping sometime Miss. America." She snorted loudly in front of him, an edge of a smirk on her face before dissolving into a blank expression.

"You like shopping?"

"I love it!" He straightened himself, scandalized, how could he not? Well, he looked to his clothing of the day, it certainly didn't look like he put any effort into his choices.

He wasn't one who cared if girls were viewed as the only ones who actually liked the activity, he enjoyed what he enjoyed stereotypes didn't matter to his merciful eyes. The only other friend he had was Gaara after all, and that guy hated shopping about as much as Naruto himself hated vegetables, although he did drag him places when he had the money.

"I look at magazines and all that stuff, but it just seems so general to me, I don't want to wear what everyone else is wearing, I want to have personality dattebayo!" Ino blinked. Her long lashes tracing her cheek gently as she did so, her eyes were peering at him in a strange way, coloured darkly with a shadow of something the bright blond man could not name., but if he was to name it for anything, he would say intrigue. He had an inkling they would be good friends in time. He nearly cheered out loud at the thought.

When he had first got into this city, he had imagined that it would be much like his old home, with the people glaring at him, gossiping about him, because they had nothing better to do. This place seemed different, then again, no one here had even heard of him, never mind seen him, they didn't know anything about his past or present. That was exactly how he would like it to remain, he was ashamed of his past, and afraid for his present.

Shaking himself he smiled at his long haired companion, his leg shaking under the table. He blushed slightly, he hated nervous habits. Ino across from him slid out from her seat and began to do whatever it was she did in the mornings. Wrapping a plain white apron around herself and ducking beneath the counter. Unsure, he followed. Seeing the hanger, he shimmied out of his construction jacket and placed it as far as he could from Ino's expensive looking coat, not wanting to dirty it.

His feet stilled, not quite processing that there was a strange man actually staring at both him and Ino around one of the tables, silently standing there. Naruto felt a warning signal go off in his brain, and he grabbed onto Ino's rather slender arm, pulling her back in warning. She shook him off rather quickly, but once she glimpsed the man she smiled. Naruto found it strange, certainly because her eyebrow was also twitching with the warm look she gave him. He could safely say he had never seen an expression like it.

"Kakashi-san, you're a bit late don't you think?" The man only smiled at her, Naruto could fathom a guess it was meant to be reassuring or apologetic or something along those lines, but with the way his eye crinkled, and his black mask stretched to accommodate the action, it set him on edge, and he found himself cringing away from the stranger and a little more behind Ino. That of course, was the action that drew the one black eye straight to him, Naruto cursed himself for hiding of all things. Ino glimpsed at him from over her shoulder her cerulean eyes peeking over almost coyly, her pink painted lips smiling gently at him, he blushed, realizing that she was reassuring him! He wasn't scared or shy! He scampered away from Ino, and crossed his arms over his chest glaring at the man ahead of them, he wasn't a coward damnit!

"Naruto, this is Hatake Kakashi, he's our boss, Kakashi-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto, the new hands you appointed." Cursing his luck, he bowed his hands going clammy now that he knew he had hidden from his boss of all people. He didn't peer his eyes up, careful to hide his fresh blush, it was embarrassing enough that he had almost screamed when he had seen the man standing there, never mind hidden behind someone after he had found his boss creepy, he didn't need the strange man to see his blush as well.

Once his face was free from heat he stood tall again, the man seemed to measuring him up with that strange jet black eye of his. Naruto did the same.

The first thing to be noted was that he was taller then him standing at perhaps a "5'8", the second thing would be the strange hair. That was another thing altogether, it was silver -it looked natural as well…- it was tamed almost entirely onto the right side of his head the left side was gelled to be stuck to his head, while all his other hairs went to the right side, it looked soft but oddly messy compared to the one gelled side. The man was obviously one who had style, just didn't bother to change into anything uncomfortable. He wore a dark ashen button-up work shirt underneath a pine coloured knitted jumper, and baby blue slightly ripped loose jeans. On his feet there was only simple white and blue running shoes, not used much by the look of them. Kakashi would be completely non-threatening if he wasn't wearing a strange black mask over his cheeks, nose, mouth and neck, it looked to be part of a large piece of clothing as it didn't seem to wrinkle and was being worn underneath the grey button-up the man was wearing. That was strange, but so was the fact that his mask didn't just cover his neck, on the right side, it stretched upwards wrapping around his ear and covered his right eye, only the left eye part of his forehead, a bit of cheek, and one slender sliver eyebrow were what remained to be seen of the man's face.

Uncomfortable, he broke his gaze, and thinking quickly looked over to where the impeccably dressed woman sat, only to tilt his head in confusion when he realized she had left.

"What did Kurenai-san want anyway?" Ino asked, and since Naruto knew she wasn't talking to him, he naturally tuned into the conversation.

"Ah, nothing that important, apparently Sarutobi Co is expanding, she wanted to ask a favour." Kakashi spoke blandly, clearly having no interest in the favour the woman had asked of him.

About to say that the response answered nothing, he snapped it shut when he noticed the slight head shake Ino gave in his direction. He grunted, agreeing to follow along, for today. He faced away from the man, and followed Ino as she instructed him on how to operate and clean the equipment, went over rules, and of course cursed his luminescent jacket to the highest heaven and the lowest hells.

* * *

Finally done with his shift, he waved at Ino, and looked towards the busy street he would have to walk to get home, then again… He turned into the same root he had taken to get to the cafe, a set of pathways designed for sightseeing, but they ran right past his house, so it would work to get him home faster then the people clogged streets of the main roads.

He had only walked them once before now, but even still he loved the pathways, they looked like a slice of paradise, they were beautiful and shone with vibrancy and colour that the plain grey chalk sidewalks and large skyscrapers didn't have. Of course it being winter the colours were far more toned down then they were naturally, but he didn't mind because it still provided an escape and it was still beautiful. The loud sound of a heavy guitar filled the silence, and snapping his attention to his pocket he picked up his phone and checked.

 **'Scary Man'** The screen showed him, and he laughed, there was far too many people in his life that said name could apply too, but of course he had only given the nickname to one person. He picked up before the loud sound could scare the animals more.

"Hey Gaara!" He chirped into the phone, giggling slightly, if only to annoy the crimson haired man, he hated peppy people.

 _"Naruto. Did you visit the school yet?"_ A smile lit up his sunshine expression, Gaara was someone who valued blatant points and straight answers. When he had heard of their grand move, he had grilled him for the details. In a way that could be considered a threat to most people. No one could ever say Gaara was a conventional person, However, this was of no great shock, at the time he had expected to be sat down and talked to, that was simply how Gaara was, overprotective.

The first thing that his red-head had focused on had been of course, his safety, and then was the concern for his schooling. Which was something Gaara was very passionate about, mostly because of his own experience. Meaning his lack thereof, Gaara was nineteen, however, he had never graduated high school, he had been forced into juvenile detention, but he had managed to bribe his guard in order for him to be able to sneak away from school during the day. It had never been something they discussed in great detail. They were birds of the same feather. They had met each other when they were young, and although his Dad had never really liked Gaara he had been the only friend Naruto had ever kept.

"No, don't worry Gaara, I've already been registered."

 _"...Good. Be cautious, I've checked in and they haven't slowed down."_ The bird give a sharp shrill, flapping its wings and taking flight, a flutter of peach coloured feathers descended, and Naruto was paused just a hairbreadth away from where they landed. Presently his thoughts were unfocused, only if to process the information he was hearing now. He had been under the impression that his pursuers had given up, at least that is what he had been told. This was a setback. To put it quite blandly. He pulled his upper lip back, showing a set of white teeth.

"I thought they had given up." Whispering, he continued on his way, with considerably heavier steps. The gravel crunching and turning under his feet all the more pronounced now that he held this information.

 _"Not quite, they seem to have varied the course of their search, which is concerning. I believe they are doubling their efforts to find you, with such methods. We have increased security on our end, still our outreach is limited given the circumstances, don't let your guard down."_ With the concerting warning Naruto flipped the phone shut, his eyelids resting on his cheeks for a moment as he took a deep breath. Putting the flip phone into his back pocket, he continued on his way home. Stepping on the feathers of the bird who had flown away as he made his way down the gravel path.


End file.
